Gabriela Rahman

I first started working as a teacher because I needed a job. I taught 1st grade at a bilingual school in my country, Honduras. My students still could not read in their native language, somehow I managed to teach them how to read and write in English in under 10 months. That made me feel incredibly powerful, and that I would always be a part of their journey because I opened their lives to Literacy. I helped the Spanish teacher to teach them how to read. Then I knew teaching was my legacy.

During the Covid-19 pandemic I felt really anxious about my students’ safety and that of their families. Several of my friends wanted to help, and we coordinated food deliveries, medication, and even monetary donations to help. We helped several families that way. So my thankful students nominated me as Life Changing Teacher of 2020 and I won. I went to grad school with the awards money to be an even better teacher to my students. Seeing them succeed is my biggest professional accomplishment.

Definitely a lot of it would be spent on educational materials to make my class more fun, snacks, pizza parties, prizes and nature field trips. I would help out my mom with her treatment and medication for different age related illnesses. I would pay enrollment to an additional grad school degree. Finally, I would love to invest in my dream retirement home, which I can only afford if I work for 20 more years. I have taught 17+ years.